Perhaps it was the glorious sunshine that inspired my friends and I to visit Dacantus, an inviting Spanish restaurant on Newcastle’s Grey Street.

From the outside, it is quite inconspicuous and easy to miss, but inside there is a warm, relaxed atmosphere and you know immediately you’ll be there for the rest of the night. Even though it was only 7pm when we arrived on a Tuesday night, most tables were taken and my two dining companions and I managed to nab the last one.

Essentially, Dacantus is a Spanish bar eaterie which specialises in a huge collection of gin and tonics. The decor has swish wallpaper, glistening tiles and copper piping abound.

Menus were brought to us and drink orders taken. We went for pleasant bottle of rioja (£21).

For nibbling and sharing there are plenty of dishes. Prices range from £5 to £12 for the 13 options, including four vegetarian and gluten free options. Everything sounded tempting, tiger prawns cooked with garlic, Aberdeen Angus beef fillet strips with sliced potatoes and Spanish onion soup all grabbed our attention. We decided to try two starters, the pork fillet medallions cooked in dry sherry (£8) served with potato wedges and the aubergine pyramid with feta cheese (£6).

The pork dish was presented on a white dish and there were plenty of chunky pieces of meat which were almost melt in the mouth. A mountain of wedges were on the side against the meat.

The aubergine beautifully presented and held together with a skewer. The feta cheese was placed between the aubergine layers along with peppers and onions. To the side was a little pot of wedges. Aubergine and feta cheese is a wonderful marriage.

The main menu again features 12 choices and prices range from £9 to £19. After a good pause, our selection arrived.

Across the table my companion Alison, had chosen the loins of sea bass cooked in a chorizo sauce (£13) and she was as pleased with hers as I was with mine. The flavours were all strong and satisfying. The sauce gave bursts of spicy chorizo that added to the pleasure but she was defeated by the amount and it hurt her to have to leave some, so her other half helped out.

I had the lamb casserole with couscous (£13). It was really tasty and filling, but the chicken dish that my companion Mark had chosen really looked and tasted out of this world. He had picked the chicken breast stuffed with nuts and dates served with potato wedges and a salad garnish or sautéed vegetables (£13). The combination of the sweet date flavour set against the nuts was really tasty.

But we unanimously voted the aubergine tower our favourite dish from the last selection and a must for anyone visiting the restaurant. By this stage I knew I couldn’t manage another morsel, yet the sweet tooth had yet to be addressed so Mark admirably took up the challenge.

He picked the caramelised chocolate mousse (£7) which was light and silky and the perfect way to end a very enjoyable meal. Our lovely waitress informed us that Dacantus is from the stable of the team who run El Coto on Leazes Road and other restaurants in the region. The service was very relaxed and friendly that it was hard to think we hadn’t been here before. We all agreed, Dacantus is a welcome addition to the explosion of restaurants on Grey Street.

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